He Thought he Had no Heart
by Kimxchan
Summary: A Filia/Xelloss 'fic, with a 'three days' twist, eventually.
1. A Quiet Night

Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine, and that whole spiel. Also, if you dislike the Xelloss and Filia pairing... well, too bad! ;P Don't read this, I suppose.  
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It had been a long journey, and all of them were tired. Lina Inverse, firey-tempered, flat-chested redhead settled down under a tree, exhausted. She sighed, her eyes pouring with a waterfall of tears.  
  
"I'm so hungry!" Lina fell over sideways and started to chew on the nearest object.  
  
"Hey, Lina! That's not food!" A tall blonde man tore his foot away, sat under a tree and glared at her while nursing his foot.  
  
"But Goooouuuuurry!" Lina's cheeks were suddenly suken in, and she looked much thinner than before.  
  
"Um... Lina-san, I think you have a problem," Much better endowed and yet so childlike, the Princess of Seillune turned her head to look at her companion from the fire.  
  
"Just give her something to eat," A chimera grumped from his spot under a tree.  
  
"Foooood...Ameria... Zel..." Lina started to cry again, little pendulum tears floating from her eyes.  
  
"My, my, looks like you're all out of food..." A mysterious shadow leaped from a tree branch, revealing a purple-haired priest.  
  
He was ignored by all-the first three messily 'eating' food that a fifth, a blonde woman remembered, the chimera, and the blonde herself.   
  
Silence fell over the night-time scene, and he scoffed from his perch in the tree.  
  
"Why am I here? It's not like I enjoy the company." The mazoku watched them as they drifted off to sleep, one by one.  
  
First to go was Gourry, who didn't snore, for once. Lina collapsed next to him, fell asleep, and wrapped her arms around Gourry's body, unaware of what she was doing. Ameria was attempting to snuggle into sleep with Zelgadis, who was protesting weakly. Eventually they fell asleep, Zelgadis holding her tightly, a slight blush playing across his stone-riddled face, even in his sleep.  
  
Only Filia, the blonde, remained awake now. Unaware of being watched, the former priestess hugged her knees to her chest and looked wistfully at the other couples, nose turning a faint pink as she fought tears.  
  
Xelloss felt an unfamiliar pang in his stomach, almost overwhelming enough to hurt.  
  
Filia gazed up into the sky, and whispered.  
  
"Why am I alone? Right now even that awful mazoku would be good company."  
  
On cue, he appeared next to her, "Is that so?" His tone was almost mocking, riling her. /Come'on, yell at me/ he thought, /it'll be funny to see you make that cute... that stupid face and I can call you a selfish dragon/  
  
Instead she looked up at him, not bothering to conceal tears, "I... suppose so, Xelloss-san." Her voice was soft, wavery, and full of sadness. He pouted inwardly. /No response? No anger? Where is that selfish dragon I love..../ Outwardly he sneered, "Well I don't keep selfish dragons company," and transported to a tree far enough away to be discreet. His heart pounded, a feeling he had never felt, not even around Lina.  
  
"What is wrong with me?"  
  
The sound of crying came from the clearing, obviously Filia's voice. His stomach lurched again, and he felt an overwhelming pull toward her.   
  
"Why do I want to comfort her? She's one of the ryuzoku, and we hate each other. A selfish golden dragon priestess. And stupid..." He stood on the branch, listening to the tears for a moment, "Just like Lina-san..." His eyes flew open, and his knees buckled to the tree.   
  
"Baka..." he cursed at himself for showing weakness, and dropped down to walk back to the clearing. Xelas-sama told him to watch over their group, after all. They had a way of attracting useful people. But her priest/general always found a private reason as well, and he hated that aspect of himself. After all he, as a mazoku, should not /feel/ anything.  
  
Filia sobbed into her dress, not caring if the noise woke up the others, "He's so mean! I am not a selfish dragon!" In a fit of sorrow she rose, lashing out with her mace. It lodged into a tree, splintering the oak in half, and she ran, sobbing, into the woods.  
  
"I hope I never see him again! He always calls me a se..self..selfish dra-a-a-gon! He's a dirty, murdeous, filthy namagomi of a /mazoku/!" In pain, she lashed out, knocking branches out of her way. Suddenly, she ran right into the one person she was cursing.  
  
"Baka! You're so selfish you can't even watch where you're going!" Xelloss smirked at her, and she started bawling even harder, not noticing the startled and perhaps soft tone of his voice.  
  
"Namagomi!" Was all she could get out between sobs, laying on the ground like a four year old, clutching to the fabric of his cloak.  
  
He stared at her, his heart pounding even harder. /Xelas-sama, what is this?/ 


	2. Tears of Confusion

In some far away and distant land, the Beastmaster chuckled. She was pleased, for the torture of love was a burden few mazoku ever placed on their shoulders.  
  
Meanwhile, her priest/general had a sobbing ryuzoku on his hands, and was, for once, helpless.   
  
Xelloss continued to stare at Filia, who continued to sob into his cloak. After a moment, he dropped to his knees, and very, very hesitantly put one of his arms around her. She didn't flinch away, but he still didn't relax, unused to such close contact-unless he was teasing someone, of course.  
  
Filia herself didn't flinch only because she was so preoccupied with her inner thoughts. She continued to sob, and her mind raced.  
  
'Why am I letting this mazoku touch me? I hate him! He almost completly destroyed my race... but.. that was so long ago, and it was a war. STILL!' Her sobs had nearly subsided now, and she turned her reddened eyes up to the mazoku.  
  
"Xelloss?" Her voice cracked in the middle of his name, but he refrained from teasing her. Instead, Xelloss, the mysterious trickster priest, replied.  
  
"Filia-chan?" The tremble in his own voice startled her, and when she opened her mouth to continue, the only sound that emerged was a faint and squeaky,   
  
"Why?" Filia cleared her throat, and her voice, though soft, came clearly, "Why did you kill my kind? Was it because... you were ordered to? Because it was a war? Did you enjoy it, Xelloss-san?" Tears threatned to spill from her shimmering blue eyes, and she reached a hand to wipe them.  
  
"Filia-chan... I..." He shook his head, and let a smile drift across his face, "Sore wa, himitsu desu.." To curb the anger that began to flicker in her eyes, he added, "...in other words, I don't know."   
  
She sucked in her breath, and shook her head at him, "You don't know? Xelloss..."  
  
"I was ordered to, but... a mazoku has no heart. I can't say whether I enjoyed the carnage or not..." He actually bit his lip, and opened his eyes part of the way.  
  
"Filia?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"Do... Would you believe me, if I said I think somehow.. being around you... has given me a heart?" 


	3. Talking with the Beastmaster

Filia stared up at Xelloss, the blue of her eyes shimmering from recent tears and current confusion.  
  
"If you have no heart, Xelloss-san," she began, pulling out of his arms and turning away from him, her voice soft, "Than someone such as I could never give you one."  
  
Her pulse raced, the calm of a few moments before replaced by dread and anxiety, /I have to forgive him... or I'm no better than he is... but... do I have to believe him?/ She bit her lip, as Xelloss sighed and shimmered away.  
  
What was the use of arguing with her, when there wasn't a doubt that she was right? Xelloss fought the thing within his body that he wasn't used to. In a moment, he teleported away again, this time to his master.  
  
"Xelloss-chan," she started, one hand curled around a cup of wine, "Why is that you've abandoned your ryuzoku friend?" Her tone wasn't exactly accusatory, but he sucked in his breath anyway, bowed down.  
  
"Because... Xelas-sama, I.. am confused," Xelloss choked on his words, eyes opening just a tad, his eyebrows slanted upward.  
  
"Don't be, pet," the Beastmaster chuckled, rising from her seat, and wrapped her arms around Xelloss, "Even if she is a ryuzoku... you can love her, Xelloss-chan... Just because we are mazoku does not mean we have no emotions. We just thrive on the darker ones. Love can be a very dark and cruel emotion, even if you are.. happy," She chuckled again, kissing Xelloss's still bowed head.  
  
"I will give you three days, Xelloss-chan. If the ryuzoku does not confess her love to you before midnight on the third day, then I will remove the feeling from you forever. However-" Xelloss looked up at his master when she paused, "if she confesses afterwards, she will end up hurt... ryuzoku live a very long time, Xelloss-chan. Do you love her enough to hurt her?"  
  
Xelloss didn't reply, for the question seemed rather odd to him. Then, he rose out of his master's embrace, and nodded.  
  
"Yes, Xelas-sama...I somehow understand...I do... I love her, and I want to have her... but, can you do /me/ a favor, Xelas-sama?"  
  
She responded with a grin, "Yes, Xelloss-chan. If she confesses, I will give you her lifespan... to the moment."  
  
The priest/general weighed this in his mind and nodded again, "I am willing."  



	4. The Night Slips By

Author's Notes: Hi! Wow, thank you for the glowing reviews so far. I'm sorry I'm putting out this story so slowly, but I would like to to be good. Alas, the ending will probably be cliche, but that's still a few chapters off, yet.  
  
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Filia had sobbed for a moment, hysterically, when Xelloss transported away, but now lay on her back in a clearing, eyes tracing familiar shapes through the constellations. She was calm, now, though undecided.  
  
"Do I... Can I forgive him?" She certainly couldn't bring herself to love a mazoku, or at least she wasn't ready to aknowledge those feelings.  
  
At the shimmering sound of Xelloss's return, she twisted and looked toward him. She inhaled, startled.  
  
Somehow, Xelloss looked different. It wasn't his clothes, his posture... his eyes! Filia gasped again, for Xelloss's eyes were open, serious.  
  
He dropped to the ground, walked the few steps toward Filia, and settled beside her, silent. The mazoku did not close his eyes, and instead looked up at the night sky, speaking softly.  
  
"They look different from when I was a young mazoku..." Filia regarded him, perplexed, and lay back down in the grass. She didn't comment, instead closing her eyes-/What a funny reversal, for me to have the closed eyes and him the open/ and falling into relaxation.  
  
"I was young, once, though I never looked like a child..." He shook his head, and relaxed as well, though sitting rather than laying down.  
  
Neither of them moved or spoke for a long time, absorbed in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Filia spoke.  
  
"When I was little, and training to be a priestess, the elders would tell me stories of the stars. Each constellation has it's own legend, Xelloss." They didn't speak of what happened before, perhaps content just with each others company.  
  
"Really, Filia-chan?" He spoke her name almost tenderly, and she nodded, eyes opening.  
  
"Each one. The Great Dragon was always my favorite as a child.. but now,"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I'm not so sure anymore."  
  
"Why is that?" He looked at her, and found she was looking at him as well. Silence ensued as they studied each other, as if for the first time. After a long moment, Filia averted her gaze to the sky again, faintly blushing.  
  
"Because, Xelloss, all the constellations have merit, even the ones with mazoku backgrounds," She closed her eyes again, now, and drifted to sleep in his stunned silence.  
  
Slowly, he brought himself next to her, and watched her all through the night, falling asleep only as dawn began to sparkle the horizon. 


End file.
